Bonus rooms also known as flex rooms are unused rooms around the house in addition to the living room, guest room and the bed rooms. Since they don’t have a designated use you can repurpose them in different ways. They sometimes come with challenging layouts but there’s nothing you can’t fix with a little bit of clever planning!
If you’re scratching your head over how to define that awkwardly placed space in your home, here’s a list of ideas we put together to get your design juices flowing:
1. Kids Activity Room:
If you have kids, you can definitely use your bonus room as a kids activity room. This will help you keep your home away from the constant mess that kids tend to make and you won’t have to collect toys from all over the house all the time. With a designated space to play, it’ll just be one room to clean. You can also put a chalkboard in there and a study table so it can also be used to do homework away from other distractions. Use shelves and organisers to store toys and school supplies and turn the space into a fun activity room!
2. Home Office:
If you work from home, you can totally use your bonus room as an office. Since there will be no noise or distractions, it will be really easy to focus on work. You can renovate it to look professional, place an office desk and a couple of chairs, shelves and organisers around to complete your office look. Make sure there’s ample light in the room to make work easier. It also gives a quiet space for making conference calls or attending clients, and becomes a catalyst for productivity!
3. Home Gym:
Finally getting in the mood to complete a fitness challenge? A bonus room can definitely work as a gym or yoga studio. People who work as fitness instructors can use a home gym since gyms are closed during the pandemic. Place some mats, necessary workout equipment, calming scents and reed diffusers, and a stereo system and viola, your very own home gym is good to go!
4. Library or Reading Nook:
Bonus rooms come with challenging layouts and often strange angles which might work out for a bedroom, office or even a gym, but one thing you can use it for no matter how many corners it has, is a library and a reading nook! You can create your DIY shelves or get some old drawers from a flea market, place some cushions in a corner, a lamp and some covers and have your own library with a reading nook ready to go. It will help keep the noise and distraction away and make for a perfect relaxing spot!
5. Home Theatre:
The concept of home theatres has mostly only existed in luxury homes with plenty of empty space and rooms. But you can create your own theatre with just a projector, some couches, bean bag chairs or even mattresses, and an empty wall. This is a perfect hangout spot with your friends and since the theatres are closed due the pandemic, and you totally create your own mini cinema at home (where you’re allowed to take in your own snacks!).
6. Laundry Room:
If you don’t have a separate laundry room in your home, you can use the bonus room as one. This is actually the most common use of a bonus room. Just keep all your necessary laundry stuff in the room and keep the piles of laundry hidden away!
Bonus rooms are a luxury in itself because you can use them to make up for whatever your home is missing. And it doesn’t have to stay the same! For example if you were using your bonus room as a kids activity room, you can turn it into a hangout spot once they’ve grown up. So if you have a bonus room in your home, use it as an opportunity to get your DIY juices flowing this pandemic and create something awesome out of it!